The DC Universe Movie Timeline (or at least how I think it should go)

The DC Universe Movie Timeline (or at least how I think that it should proceed)

Alright, in 2005 we had Batman Begins. And in 2008, we had The Dark Knight. In 2012 we're going to get The Dark Knight Rises, which I will henceforth refer to as Batman 3. Now, some of you may know that the very professional fan project, The Joker Blogs, is set in between TDK and B3. What Christopher Nolan has to do is buy the rights to TJB and work it into the Nolanverse.

Meanwhile, we have the Green Lantern movie coming out in 2011, with possible sequels. Nolan has stated that B3 is the last film in his Batman Trilogy, but that won't prevent others from making more films based in the same continuity, even if Nolan isn't on board. So, after Nolan finishes up his Superman trilogy, others can make a Superman/Batman film, which, if based in the same continuity as Green Lantern, can set up for a Justice League Movie. Of course, they'd also have to make a Flash movie, a Green Arrow movie, (possibly a trilogy, in order help set up for Teen Titans and Birds of Prey movies) and a Wonder Woman movie, but those will be good to.

Now, on the subject of Batman films based in the Nolanverse going past a trilogy, here's what I have in mind (in accordance to this, I hope that B3 will introduce Catwoman, Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, & Sarah Essen. And we can't have Hugo Strange in this one, because when HS first appears, Batman needs Nightwing to help him thwart him, and he hasn't- oh, never mind continuity, we already had Ra's al Ghul and Ducard be the same person, but the HS thing is what I prefer).

After the Superman/Batman film (which will focus on a sequel hook from The Joker Blogs), and the Flash film, and the Wonder Woman film, and with the Green Arrow trilogy going on at the same time, we'll have Batman 4 (or Rise of Robin, possibly Children of the Bat, for want of any better names), which will introduce (possibly among others) Dick Grayson as Robin, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, and Talia al Ghul. Then, if the other aforementioned JLA-related films have set themselves up properly, we can possibly have a Teen Titans movie in between B4 and B5, with the other film franchises continuing with sequels if they're successful enough.

In Batman 5, we'd have Dick Grayson turn into Nightwing, with the possibility of his own spin-off (and the re-introduction of Two-Face, who, this being fiction, may not have actually died), and introduce Jason Todd as the new Robin. Also, they'd have to bring in that guy who plays The Joker in The Joker Blogs in order to have him act when they portray the events of The Killing Joke in B5. Then Jason Todd would die, hopefully as a sympathetic character, and at the end of the movie, we'd be where we were at the end of The Dark Knight; a bittersweet and rather downer ending. And don't forget, Barbara Gordon is Oracle now, thanks to The Joker.

But, if we are at the same position as we were for the end of TDK as we are now for B5, then Batman 6 should have the same effect that we hope (or rather, hoped) that Batman 3 would have. In other words, things would take a turn for the better, we'd finally meet Tim Drake, and, if all goes according to plan, Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), Helena Bertenelli (Huntress), Arthur Brown (Cluemaster), and we'd have Two-Face and Nightwing return, as both figure prominently in Tim Drake's origin story. Then again, Two-Face figures prominently in the origin stories of all of the Robins. Also, there is also the possibility of another A or B list villain being introduced, such as Killer Crock or the Penguin.

Meanwhile, in regard to other franchises, we'd have a Huntress spin-off after B6, and a The Question movie, possibly with sequels further on co-starring Huntress and Renee Montoya, the latter of whom would become the new Question in what would ideally be The Question: Multiple Choice (preceded by The Question and The Question: True or False). And let's not forget a Birds of Prey spin-off, now that the Green Arrow trilogy is likely to be finished by now and Black Canary and Huntress have been introduced. Also, since Lady Shiva figures in the origin story of Vic Sage, the Question, then we would be able to re-introduce her in....

Batman 7, or, Knightfall! For my favorite film in this proposed continuity thus far, it would obviously be based on the famous Knightfall arc. Here they would introduce Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael), one of my favorite persons in the entire DC Universe, and Bane, addition to re-introducing Mr. Zsasz, who was briefly seen back in Batman Begins, as well as new-comer (and new-goer, thanks to Azbats), Abattoir, as well as other B & C list villains. I doubt they'd be able to cram in the entire Knightfall arc into one movie and still make it look good, so they can make Knightfall -Part 1 & Knightfall -Part 2 if they like.

Also, this could lead to an Azrael spin-off, and trilogy, which I would really, really, really, REALLY, like to see (First there would be Azrael, then Azrael: Agent of the Bat, and then Azrael: Fallen Angel, the last of which would detail the demise of Jean-Paul Valley, hopefully far better than the comics did.) We could work the Contagion arc into the second of these, which precedes our next arc.

And now, with Batman 8 (or Batman 9, depending on how the Knightfall arc is released), it would be on the No Man's Land arc. Here, we say hello to Cassandra Cain as the new Batgirl, and say goodbye to Sarah Essen as Commissioner Gordon's new dead wife, thanks to The Joker (I know that sounds really insensitive, but that's exactly what happened). And we'd be repeating the tradition of the middle films having a downer/bittersweet ending, only for the next one to have a positive up-draft.

And another thing; The No Man's Land arc's resolution partially involved Lex Luthor, who used his status in the Fiction500 list to rebuild Gotham City from the ground up, though this brought him into conflict with Batman/Bruce Wayne, who knew that Lex Luthor just wanted a rather large slice of Gotham City Property pie. This in turn led to the Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive arc (Batman 9 or Batman 10) when ol' Lex decided to make Bruce Wayne's life miserable by framing him for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Vesper Fairchild, with his bodyguard Sash Borduex as an accomplice. Now, either they can skip this arc and instead use Luthor's actions as an excuse to make a Justice League movie, or another Superman/Batman movie, or just play the arc straight. Either way, I'm sure we'd get an awesome film.

Speaking of the Justice League, this point is when they ought to make it. If they went with the former option of skipping the Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive arc and made the Justice League movie, they'd be able to make another Justice League movie detailing the origin of the league. Or, in this continuity, maybe this is the Justice League origin movie. And since Huntress and The Question are in the league, we might see them again too, if all went according to plan. Heck, maybe in this continuity, Azrael would be in the league. Now that would be awesome. Oh, and now that Lex is president following the No Man’s Land arc, we can work that into another Justice League movie based on the events of Joker's Last Laugh.

Whichever way we made a Justice League movie, it would immediately be followed by Batman 9 / Batman 10, though I hope that it will wind up as Batman X: Hush. The Hush storyline is largely thought to be one of the best storylines in the entire Batman mythos. It would focus on Batman's relationship with Catwoman, and before now we would have had to introduce the Riddler, Killer Crock, Penguin, Clayface, and Ra's al Ghul would have to not be dead by now, and we could bring back Jason Todd/Red Hood, which would set-up for a live action version of Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Somewhere in between the last two paragraphs, they would make an Identity Infinite Crisis movie. Yes, I want them to make a movie based on Infinite Crisis. Why? Because it would a super awesome, company-wide crossover, though I wouldn't mind skipping over the whole Identity Crisis arc. Speaking of which, what if Tim Drake got his own Robin spin-off? That would be cool.

Now what?

Well, that’s all I have right now. But don't forget, there are still all those sequels and spin-offs. Maybe they can even make a Knight and Squire movie. I don't know. But the whole point of this article is that I think this is the direction the DC Movie Universe ought to take.

I hear you say, "But 'X, just how many movies is that? Your expectations are completely unrealistic. It would take years to produce that many movies, and what's the point of all of it being tied into the original Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy anyway? And how on earth could they justify make ten or twelve Batman films, as opposed to their other franchises being far less numbered, and not have the public grow tired of it?"

Maybe I am being unrealistic. But to address the second point, Marvel is already going in this direction, that is, of making multiple single superhero films, and then tying them all into an Avengers movie. So why shouldn't DC get in on the act? And as for the idea of 10 or 12 Batman films, I admit that it might be a bit of a stretch, but the Final Fantasy series just released their fifteenth video game, and they're still going strong. And since Batman is just as popular, if not far more, I think that DC could justify going with the plan that I have listed.

So my message to DC is, get to work. I say the customer is always right, and I'm a customer. Cut, print, that's a wrap.

edited 5th Jan '11 9:55:03 AM by XRay2

Hi, I'm X Ray 2. I'm a high school student, and I am AWESOME.

Before reading all of that, I just want to note that DC cannot do all of that, as, unlike Marvel, most if not all of their franchises are licensed to different companies.

You won't be seeing Supes and Batsy in a movie together any time soon.

Final Fantasy is a video game series, not a film series, and has the advantage of having pretty much none of their story lines share the same continuity. You don't get the idea that the characters are being forced into another story after the twelfth time.

Trying to make ten films out of the same continuity would probably not work, especially in addition to a crapload of films that are both exclusive franchises yet also tie into it. Things get tedious, especially with film, which is fairly open and shut in the way stories are supposed to be told: the characters' story is supposed to begin and end, rise and fall, in each segment, with hooks for extensions rather than, in most cases, direct continuum (as apposed to comics which are very "open universe") - eventually it becomes obvious that you're extending the story beyond what it needs to be.

As big a Batman fan as I am, I don't see ten Bat-films, particularly with Nolan's more restrictive continuity, holding a stable, interesting, single universe for ten films.

Granted, I have always wanted to see an open film universe, but my hopes about it actually working with the canons and genres we have now are slim. Particularly with +10 films plus spinoffs plus tie-ins plus crossovers.

edited 6th Jan '11 1:01:31 AM by KnownUnknown

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

Actually, DC Comics is owned by Time Warner, so all of their movies are licensed to Warner Bros. Marvel gets away with it because they forced a stipulation that for any future franchise of Marvel's that a distributor is licensed, the movies made are completely owned by Marvel. Outside of licenses given before that contract, Marvel has full ownership rights to the movies.

edited 6th Jan '11 1:19:23 AM by GameGuruGG

Wizard Needs Food Badly

I agree with Known Unknown. Movies and comics are drastically different media. Comics can tell stories over incredibly long periods, and even tie into each other as comics tell stories in bite-sized chunks.

A movie, on the other hand, tells an entire story in one go. Sometimes two movies tell a single stories (such as the Matrix and Pirates Of The Caribbean sequels), but those are very much the exception.

Furthermore, moviegoers are far less willing to put up with shared universe bollocks than comic fans.

After typing that sentence, something struck me. 'Comic fans' exist. You never hear about 'movie fans'; sure, people might be identified as, say, scifi movie fans, or James Bond fans, but you don't get people who are fans of the entire medium of film.

In contrast, a lot of comic fans are fans of the medium itself, as opposed to fans of comics of some genre  ^*

. Since they are fans of the medium, they are willing to read multiple titles to follow a story. However, if you try telling moviegoers that in order to get the full story of Iron Man 4, they also have to see Ghost Rider 2, they'll give you an odd look and not go to see either.

And for the record, Marvel has actually been criticised for trying to do this with their movies, as this is part of what keeps new potential fans from getting into comics.

Ukrainian Red Cross

Alright, alright, so sue me. This is all supposition, really. And the main continuity that I'm talking about is the Batman franchise, which (in theory) does not need support from other movies in order to be understood (except perhaps for the supposed second Superman/Batman film or first Justice League movie...)

Hi, I'm X Ray 2. I'm a high school student, and I am AWESOME.

I think some film critics I've read would qualify. They know their film history; every time the American Film Institute publishes a "Top 50 Whatever" list, they make a point to watch the 12 movies on the list they haven't already seen; and they don't like every movie they watch, but they go into the theater wanting to like it.

I don't think we can really compare whether film buffs and superhero comic buffs really prefer standalone stories or an interconnected 'verse, because neither group really has much choice: film-verses and standalone superhero comics can be done, but they're rarer than the alternatives, so neither style has a chance to build up a fanbase.

Of course, given the high cost of making and marketing a theatrical film, the simple fact that a film-verse hasn't been done before means most studios will be too scared to try making one. Unless Marvel's Avengers film-verse works out, in which case hello, bandwagon!

I didn't write any of that.

As much as I loved Nolan's Batman films, I'd rather they create a new Batman continuity that allows for more fantastic elements (Mr. Freeze, Clayface, etc.) - like TAS, kinda retro sci-fi noir - before tying him into the same universe as Superman or Green Lantern. I just can't see Hal Jordan or Sinestro living in the Nolanverse.

And I'm sorry, I love Ollie, but there will never be a Green Arrow film trilogy. That's just hoping too much.

edited 6th Jan '11 6:14:53 PM by Filby

Groovy.

^On Green Arrow, I dunno I mean, isn't he really popular in Smallville?

@Meta Four: Good point, but it doesn't really feel like the same thing to me. I think there's a difference between comic fans and the film buffs you describe, but I can't think how to articulate it.

@Filby: I agree The Nolanverse is very down-to-Earth and realistic, with no magic or supertechnology. Adding traditional comic tropes like aliens would completely alter the dynamic. That said, I think the likes of Clayface could work in the Tim Burton Batman films.

Ukrainian Red Cross

I've always thought Clayface could work if he wasn't a clay monster and more a disfigured master of disguise, a la, from what I hear, Basil Karlo.

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

I understand the point you're making about film buffs versus comic book fans. Maybe it's a level of respectability? A comic book fan is often stereotyped as nerdy or geeky or esoteric, reading and collecting something not everyone understands, as opposed to a film buff who appreciates movies, something a lot more people can understand because a lot more people watch movies. More people see movies every week than buy comics. Though I will say I know some film buffs who are just as into movies as others (myself included) are into comics or more. A film buff might know about directors and cinematography, where a casual movie watcher would know who the actors are and that's it.

"What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today!"

Also, most movie franchises tend to need a reboot after the 4th/5th film. The only exceptions I can think of from the top of my head are James Bond and Harry Potter... Star Wars doesn't count. If you set up the movies by only connecting them via references or Shout Outs it could work... But I doubt it can be pulled off for such a long time. Besides that, I would offer my firstborn for a Question and/or Huntress movie.